{"id":20216,"date":"2017-01-24T06:19:44","date_gmt":"2017-01-24T06:19:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.biphoo.com\/bipnews\/?p=20216"},"modified":"2017-01-24T06:19:44","modified_gmt":"2017-01-24T06:19:44","slug":"senate-panel-approves-rex-tillerson-for-secretary-of-state","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.biphoo.com\/bipnews\/world-news\/senate-panel-approves-rex-tillerson-for-secretary-of-state.html","title":{"rendered":"Senate panel approves Rex Tillerson for secretary of State"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Senate panel approves Rex Tillerson for secretary of State<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n

Senate panel approves Rex Tillerson for secretary of StateL-<\/strong> Former ExxonMobil CEO Rex Tillerson won approval Monday from the Senate Foreign Relations Committee to become President Trump’s secretary of State, paving the way for confirmation by the full Senate.<\/span><\/p>\n

The committee voted 11-10, along party lines, for Tillerson, whose nomination for the post has been controversial because of his close dealings with Russian President Vladimir Putin.<\/span><\/p>\n

Tillerson prevailed after Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., announced he would reluctantly support former oil company executive despite reservations about his ties to Russia.<\/span><\/p>\n

Rubio told the committee his concern was that Tillerson will “pursue a foreign policy of deal-making at the expense of human rights and democracy.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

During a sometimes tense confirmation hearing Jan. 11, Rubio called Tillerson’s answers “troubling” and “discouraging” when he refused to agree that Russia and Syria’s aggressive actions were war crimes or that Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte’s extradjudicial killings were human rights violations.<\/span><\/p>\n

Republicans hold a one-seat advantage on the panel, so a “no” vote would have blemished \u2014 though not torpedoed \u2014 Trump’s choice to run the State Department.<\/span><\/p>\n

Rubio’s decision to endorse Tillerson was probably made easier by the announcement Sunday of two other Tillerson skeptics \u2014 Republican Sens. John McCain of Arizona and Lindsey Graham of South Carolina \u2014 to favor Tillerson. In a joint statement, both said Tillerson “can be an effective advocate for U.S. interests.”<\/span><\/p>\n

Rubio wrote a lengthy Facebook post explaining that he would vote for Tillerson: “Given the uncertainty that exists both at home and abroad about the direction of our foreign policy, it would be against our national interests to have this confirmation unnecessarily delayed or embroiled in controversy.”<\/span><\/p>\n

Sen. Ben Cardin of Maryland, the top Democrat on the committee, said he opposed Tillerson\u2019s nomination because \u201cthe fundamental role of a secretary of State is to promote American values.\u201d He said Tillerson would not answer questions about whether he supported sanctions or whether development assistance should be contingent on human rights.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cSo many times he qualified (his responses) that he sounded like a business person and not like a secretary of State,\u201d Cardin said.<\/span><\/p>\n

Cardin said Tillerson lacked the passion for human rights shown by other Trump nominees, such as South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, picked to be ambassador to the United Nations, and James Mattis, who was confirmed Friday as secretary of Defense.<\/span><\/p>\n

Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J., said he respects Tillerson\u2019s experience, but his world views don’t support a tradition of promoting U.S. values such as protecting human rights and enforcing rule of law.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt is not the type of moral clarity I would like a secretary of State to espouse,\u201d Menendez said.<\/span><\/p>\n

Menendez also said he did not think Tillerson was forthcoming in his answers about ExxonMobil’s lobbying against sanctions.<\/span><\/p>\n

Committee Chairman Bob Corker, R-Tenn., noted that Tillerson was an engineer by training and was cautious in some of his answers because he “probably doesn\u2019t know the person he\u2019s about to work for very well.”<\/span><\/p>\n

Sen. Rob Portman, R-Ohio, voted in favor of Tillerson, saying he was impressed by his commitment to support NATO allies and to protect them if they come under attack. Those comments from Tillerson were at odds with Trump, who as a candidate said he would consider allies\u2019 contributions to their own defense before ordering U.S. troops to defend them.<\/span><\/p>\n

Democrats earlier criticized Rubio for what they see as caving to Trump.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cBy ignoring his serious reservations about Tillerson\u2019s connections to Vladimir Putin, Marco Rubio is not only rolling over for Donald Trump, he\u2019s earning the nickname Trump gave him: Little Marco,” said Zac Petkanas, a senior adviser to the Democratic National Committee.<\/span><\/p>\n

Rubio had been pressed by a number of influential Republicans in recent weeks to back Tillerson, including former vice president Dick Cheney. If he voted against Tillerson, Rubio would be tagged as the chief antagonist against his own party\u2019s president.<\/span><\/p>\n

It would also have meant running afoul of Senate Republican leaders who just awarded him a coveted seat on the Appropriations Committee.<\/span><\/p>\n

Only a handful of Cabinet nominees have been rejected, the most recent being former Texas senator John Tower in 1989, whom President George H.W. Bush had named to run the Pentagon.<\/span><\/p>\n

Source:-\u00a0http:\/\/www.usatoday.com\/story\/news\/world\/2017\/01\/23\/senate-panel-oks-tillerson-secretary-state\/96963454\/<\/span><\/p>\n

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